The night was still, the hotel room wrapped in darkness. Yuan lay in bed, lost in deep thoughts. His mind was constantly planning, calculating every possible move, analyzing every angle. At that moment, Sylas let out a soft sigh and nudged Yuan's shoulder. Yuan flinched and turned around.
"I'm hungry," Sylas said, his voice still carrying that heavy pride and challenge.
Yuan narrowed his eyes, irritation flickering across his face. Internally, he muttered:
"What can I even do…?"
Right then, Sylas' phone rang. Yuan glanced at him but pretended not to care. Sylas picked it up; it was the center calling.
"Mr. Sylas, where are you? The meeting is about to start," the voice on the other end said.
Sylas let out a long sigh and hung up without saying a word. He turned to Yuan.
"I don't know if you realize, but you're the one who directed me here… to this dump…"
Yuan ignored Sylas' words, lost in his own thoughts. Just then, the hotel room door knocked. Yuan swallowed nervously and opened it. The police were there, coming for a routine check. Yuan tried to act calm.
Sylas, however, looked at the officers with his usual cold arrogance
"Were you authorized to enter here?"
The officer raised his voice:
"Yes, we were! Last night, a body was found behind this hotel, so we have permission to check every room."
Sylas narrowed his eyes.
"This has nothing to do with us, and your authorization is absurd."
The officer snapped, voice louder:
"Lower your tone! There's a police officer in front of you, damn it!"
For the first time, someone spoke to Sylas this way. He squinted, anger rising.
"No, you lower your tone. Do you even know how you're speaking?" he shot back, his voice cold and sharp.
The officer tried to make a move, but Yuan, not knowing Russian, immediately intervened and defended Sylas. Sylas didn't even move.
"In front of you stands Voskresensky," Sylas said, his voice laced with threat and authority.
"How dare you attack me, you fool?"
Other officers intervened, apologizing, finishing their checks, and leaving. Yuan exhaled, frustrated things weren't going according to plan.
Sylas turned to Yuan, eyes sharp.
"Why did you defend me? No one should have approached me."
Yuan didn't respond, instead staring out the window. The streets were calm again. Yuan put on his jacket and looked at Sylas.
"This place isn't safe. We need to move to another hotel quickly."
Sylas approached him, arrogance in every step
"Yuzi, your games are tiring me. As you can see, I'm not someone who's idle. I have multiple meetings, and you're telling me we're moving somewhere else?"
Yuan narrowed his eyes, manipulative yet calm:
"I know… but right now, your safety is more important."
Sylas stepped closer, his gaze sharp:
"I've started to suspect you. Last I saw, you were working as a cleaner at the center. When did you switch to… this mode?"
Hearing that, Yuan's morale sank further. Everything he had planned was colliding, becoming more complicated. He answered quietly:
"I used to be security. Cleaning was just for the hotel money."
Sylas smirked, slipping his coat on as they left. People on the street whispered about the corpse from last night. Sylas overheard and looked at Yuan, smirking:
"Hey, security… drive the car."
Yuan, still lost in thought, didn't care about Sylas' dominance. He drove, and they left. Yuan first headed to his previous hotel. Sylas waited in the car while Yuan collected his belongings, carefully placing them in his bag and returning the key at reception. Yuan got back in the car, bag in hand. Sylas checked his own bag and watched the streets.
The phone rang. Sylas answered.
"Hello, Mr. Sylas. Your father was discharged today. He's in good condition we wanted to inform you."
Sylas hung up, visibly frustrated, tossing the phone onto the back seat. Yuan drove silently, glancing at him.
"Your family must be waiting for you in America," Sylas said.
Yuan kept his eyes on the road, the weight of the words pressing on him.
"I have no family," he said coldly.
Sylas paused, slightly surprised.
"Did you lose them?"
Yuan didn't want to answer. He felt irritated but kept his composure, focusing on driving.
"I've never seen them," he muttered.
Changing the subject, he glanced out the window.
"Are there no decent hotels around here, seriously?"
Sylas looked at him, quiet for a moment, then stared out the window as well.